County Commission Meets
Aug 8 2022
We're seeing
problems in the land of the County Commission. Since being
elected two years ago, from the outside lookin in, seems like
Commissioner Dave Schoolcraft is doing stuff behind the scene
without telling his fellow elected officials. Not once not
twice but on a regular basis.
Clay County Commission (CCC) held a public meeting on August 8th. Somewhere around ten sat in the peanut gallery to watch the process.
Up front, Commissioner Fran King was away on vacation. That left Schoolcraft and Connie Kinder to handle the affairs of local government. In the gallery was Joyce Johnson who will replace Ms King come Jan 1st.
Here's an example of Schoolcraft running the show. Agenda item 14 was to lease property from Pretty Boy Orville Paxton ($30,000 for 99 years) for a 100' by 100' 911 tower site in Pisgah. When Kinder brought up questions on the acquisition, Schoolcraft didn't have answers. Kinder: I haven't even seen these documents.
Ms Kinder managed to get the vote delayed to later in the meeting to give her time to digest Schoolcraft's quick push.
Clay County Commission (CCC) held a public meeting on August 8th. Somewhere around ten sat in the peanut gallery to watch the process.
Up front, Commissioner Fran King was away on vacation. That left Schoolcraft and Connie Kinder to handle the affairs of local government. In the gallery was Joyce Johnson who will replace Ms King come Jan 1st.
Here's an example of Schoolcraft running the show. Agenda item 14 was to lease property from Pretty Boy Orville Paxton ($30,000 for 99 years) for a 100' by 100' 911 tower site in Pisgah. When Kinder brought up questions on the acquisition, Schoolcraft didn't have answers. Kinder: I haven't even seen these documents.
Ms Kinder managed to get the vote delayed to later in the meeting to give her time to digest Schoolcraft's quick push.
"Timber!" and for no good reason
Items 15 and
16 were for accepting bids to cut down the beautiful
evergreens that have stood in front of the old Courthouse for
decades. During the late July CCC meeting, Commission Prez
Fran King said they would "just" solicit bids for the removal.
Wrong-O but not without a delay.
The Commission received two bids for the destruction, Pro Timber and Morris Tree Removal. Schoolcraft read excerpts from the sealed bids with Morris coming out the cheapest at $8,000. Again, Commissioner Kinder asked for time to study the bids before making the final decision. She asked about variations in what the $$$ would cover (complete stump removal for instance) and if Morris had insurance coverage. Again, the decision was delayed until 11:30am so Kinder could check into the fine print.
There was lots of discussion on the destruction with most in favor of the thoughtless assault on the last green space in the Town of Clay.
But, there was one guy in the peanut gallery that reminded all, more than a decade ago, maybe 15 years, the CCC decided: When the War Memorial folks (that Joe Lanham, see pic) have enough $$$ to cover the cost of the display, the Commission would agree to cut down the trees.
Note: Just two weeks ago, Mr Lanham confirmed, Nope, they still don't have enough for the Memorial to be completed.
We've got a thought. Maybe instead of calling the site a War Memorial, it should be called the Clay County Tree Memorial!
Wrong-O but not without a delay.
The Commission received two bids for the destruction, Pro Timber and Morris Tree Removal. Schoolcraft read excerpts from the sealed bids with Morris coming out the cheapest at $8,000. Again, Commissioner Kinder asked for time to study the bids before making the final decision. She asked about variations in what the $$$ would cover (complete stump removal for instance) and if Morris had insurance coverage. Again, the decision was delayed until 11:30am so Kinder could check into the fine print.
There was lots of discussion on the destruction with most in favor of the thoughtless assault on the last green space in the Town of Clay.
But, there was one guy in the peanut gallery that reminded all, more than a decade ago, maybe 15 years, the CCC decided: When the War Memorial folks (that Joe Lanham, see pic) have enough $$$ to cover the cost of the display, the Commission would agree to cut down the trees.
Note: Just two weeks ago, Mr Lanham confirmed, Nope, they still don't have enough for the Memorial to be completed.
We've got a thought. Maybe instead of calling the site a War Memorial, it should be called the Clay County Tree Memorial!
The secrecy around a potential water park in downtown Clay
Let's talk
about about another stinker ....
Just before the last Commission meeting in July, up front, the Commissioners and County Clerk were quietly chit chatting among themselves about a proposed community park to be built beside the old Chevy dealership building. It sounded like the "splash park" area would not be built.
Back in late Winter, the park was discussed during a couple public meetings. In addition to the usual tables, seating, play areas, spokesman Mike Shamblin told all, the plan calls for including a water park there, a shallow splash area.
We hear a lot of smoke during meetings. What caught our ear was, Shamblin told all, funding was in place and the new addition to downtown Clay would be built in the Summer of 2022. Great!
Sounds perfect for tourists and locals using ERTS and the Elk River. Great!
Back to that earlier meeting...
When the folks up front quit mumbling among themselves, from the peanut gallery, Well? are you going to tell us what happened to the splash park. No one would talk. Mums the word.
What they weren't telling attendees was, when bids came in on the splash park, they were much higher than expected and there ain't enough $$$ for the fun spot.
Always seeking answers, after the meeting, we rounded up that just mentioned spokesman, Mike Shamblin, and asked, is the water feature dead. Shamblin was real hesitant to answer other than "We're working on it." After much hesitation and strong encouragement from the Ace Cub Reporter, he finally offered a meek response along the lines of, there isn't enough money for the original idea.
Hell readers, everybody on Earth knows that the price of everything has gone up! What is the problem with making the truth public? Mr Shamblin also sounded irritated that those not involved with the community park project (that would be the CCC) were talking out loud.
Well, we have a problem with both the CCC and Mike Shamblin. When it comes to spending the public's dollars and doing a public project, why be secret or worse yet, illusive????
Just before the last Commission meeting in July, up front, the Commissioners and County Clerk were quietly chit chatting among themselves about a proposed community park to be built beside the old Chevy dealership building. It sounded like the "splash park" area would not be built.
Back in late Winter, the park was discussed during a couple public meetings. In addition to the usual tables, seating, play areas, spokesman Mike Shamblin told all, the plan calls for including a water park there, a shallow splash area.
We hear a lot of smoke during meetings. What caught our ear was, Shamblin told all, funding was in place and the new addition to downtown Clay would be built in the Summer of 2022. Great!
Sounds perfect for tourists and locals using ERTS and the Elk River. Great!
Back to that earlier meeting...
When the folks up front quit mumbling among themselves, from the peanut gallery, Well? are you going to tell us what happened to the splash park. No one would talk. Mums the word.
What they weren't telling attendees was, when bids came in on the splash park, they were much higher than expected and there ain't enough $$$ for the fun spot.
Always seeking answers, after the meeting, we rounded up that just mentioned spokesman, Mike Shamblin, and asked, is the water feature dead. Shamblin was real hesitant to answer other than "We're working on it." After much hesitation and strong encouragement from the Ace Cub Reporter, he finally offered a meek response along the lines of, there isn't enough money for the original idea.
Hell readers, everybody on Earth knows that the price of everything has gone up! What is the problem with making the truth public? Mr Shamblin also sounded irritated that those not involved with the community park project (that would be the CCC) were talking out loud.
Well, we have a problem with both the CCC and Mike Shamblin. When it comes to spending the public's dollars and doing a public project, why be secret or worse yet, illusive????
This time last year, Commissioner David Schoolcraft promised to have Courthouse Square repaired before the 2021 Apple fest. During the Aug 8 2022 Commission meeting, he changed his words to having a "goal" to have the Square repaired before the Big Apple this year.
Here's Joe Lanham working his magic
At 11:30am
and after Commissioner Kinder had time to read the fine print
(Yelp we watched her up front reading the documents during the
break) the County Commission reconvened to handle the
tree issue and leasing property for a 911 tower.
First came the 911 tower and the $30,000 going to Orville Mercedes Paxton, All the $$ will be paid Paxton up front. The new tower will be free standing without guy wires. And, the old, nearby tower will stay in use until the new unit is completed.
A $30,000 windfall for the School Superintendent. It might come just in time to pay his lawyer bills.... well maybe.
Finally and after Connie Kinder felt the contracts were alike and included tree stump removal and full clean up, CCC awarded the contract to Morris Tree Removal for $8000.00. During this 11:30am meeting, there was one lad that protested the decision.
We started this article discussing the ways of David Schoolcraft. Whether it's the Coon Hunter building getting yanked out from under that group, the new tower site, or cutting down beautiful trees on Main Street without a true reason, Schoolcraft is showing his secretive ways while occupying a public office.
From Andre Malraux: The truth about about a man lies first and foremost in what he hides.
AW
First came the 911 tower and the $30,000 going to Orville Mercedes Paxton, All the $$ will be paid Paxton up front. The new tower will be free standing without guy wires. And, the old, nearby tower will stay in use until the new unit is completed.
A $30,000 windfall for the School Superintendent. It might come just in time to pay his lawyer bills.... well maybe.
Finally and after Connie Kinder felt the contracts were alike and included tree stump removal and full clean up, CCC awarded the contract to Morris Tree Removal for $8000.00. During this 11:30am meeting, there was one lad that protested the decision.
We started this article discussing the ways of David Schoolcraft. Whether it's the Coon Hunter building getting yanked out from under that group, the new tower site, or cutting down beautiful trees on Main Street without a true reason, Schoolcraft is showing his secretive ways while occupying a public office.
From Andre Malraux: The truth about about a man lies first and foremost in what he hides.
AW